What makes it different from something like Alphas or Fringe is that they're not afraid to use the word "superhero." It will be nice if this show draws as heavily on Marvel lore as Arrow or later-seasons Smallville have drawn on DC lore. Hopefully we'll get some significant supervillains too.

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Well for me it's not enough to simply use the term-- I want to see characters that actually LOOK like superheroes and supervillains on this show, who have a whole, comic book style mythology and look like they could almost stand alongside Cap and Thor in their outfits.

If it's just a bunch of troubled loners in normal clothes who have weird powers and abilities, then that's something I feel like I've already seen to death by now.

If it's just a bunch of troubled loners in normal clothes who have weird powers and abilities, then that's something I feel like I've already seen to death by now.

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J.August Richards unnamed character in the pilot at least is going to start off wearing street clothes. I'd like to think that Marvel knows people want a bit of pizzaz. If Smallville in it's latter seasons and Arrow can give us that then I suspect SHIELD will as well given time.

Well for me it's not enough to simply use the term-- I want to see characters that actually LOOK like superheroes and supervillains on this show, who have a whole, comic book style mythology and look like they could almost stand alongside Cap and Thor in their outfits.

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Yes, that's what I meant to imply -- I'm hoping that their willingness to use the word means they won't be afraid to use the other trappings.

If it's just a bunch of troubled loners in normal clothes who have weird powers and abilities, then that's something I feel like I've already seen to death by now.

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J.August Richards unnamed character in the pilot at least is going to start off wearing street clothes. I'd like to think that Marvel knows people want a bit of pizzaz. If Smallville in it's latter seasons and Arrow can give us that then I suspect SHIELD will as well given time.

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I sort of hope that character is Luke Cage. Though I'm also interested in seeing how much more of the Marvel Universe we'll get to see via this; if they're traveling around the world, would an appearance from MI-13 be out of the question for example?

If it's just a bunch of troubled loners in normal clothes who have weird powers and abilities, then that's something I feel like I've already seen to death by now.

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J.August Richards unnamed character in the pilot at least is going to start off wearing street clothes. I'd like to think that Marvel knows people want a bit of pizzaz. If Smallville in it's latter seasons and Arrow can give us that then I suspect SHIELD will as well given time.

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Of course, in the comics, Luke Cage wears his street clothes while super-heroing. At least he has for the last decade or so.

"[He] Killed it! He’s so good," Bell told IGN in response to a question about Richards. "He’s so good, because we were looking for this character M-- I almost said his name. It’s not the one people are talking about. … I’m going to say that’s an interesting Marvel character, but no. But he came in and killed it.

^Okay, so he might be someone whose name begins with M. Although the article goes on to say that it may have just been a "hmm" sound. And it adds:

The executive producer went on to say that the character may "not necessarily" be familiar to those who read Marvel comics.

"We’re going to draw from it, but Marvel has its thing, and we’re also going to be expanding forward, and this world is different since 'The Avengers,'" Bell said. "So I think there will be people showing up, some from the Marvel Universe and some not. But to commit to anything more would be telling."

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So yeah, I've been reluctant to assume his character would be someone from the comics. I expect we'll see a lot of original characters, though it does sound like there will be some Marvel characters too.

Could it be some character that hasn't appeared in quite some time? And I mean decades?
Maybe even one that's been dead and with no fan fare for him they are going to use this a means to reinvent that character?
The phrasing makes it sound like Richards character is a Marvel one...just not a very deep or well known one currently.

I don't think they'll travel around the world, isn't SHIELD an american organization in this version? Operating internationally would make them criminals.

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A lot of U.S. government agencies operate internationally with cooperation from other governments.

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But in those cases "operating" usually means handing over information and then doing what they're told because they have no authority whatsoever, that can make for an interesting episode but it wouldn't work every other week.

If the show portrays them as just jumping into their plane, flying around the world and playing superhero cop, it would make SHIELD a bunch of terrorists.

But in those cases "operating" usually means handing over information and then doing what they're told because they have no authority whatsoever, that can make for an interesting episode but it wouldn't work every other week.

If the show portrays them as just jumping into their plane, flying around the world and playing superhero cop, it would make SHIELD a bunch of terrorists.

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Entertainment shows aren't bound by the strictures of reality. There have been any number of shows featuring globe-trotting agents who carry out hands-on missions around the world, either in cooperation with friendly governments or covertly in the case of countries with rogue regimes.

I don't think they'll travel around the world, isn't SHIELD an american organization in this version? Operating internationally would make them criminals.

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That's unclear. The use of "Homeland" in their current acronym implies an affiliation with the US Department of Homeland Security, yet in The Avengers they seemed to answer to some sort of international council.

Entertainment shows aren't bound by the strictures of reality. There have been any number of shows featuring globe-trotting agents who carry out hands-on missions around the world, either in cooperation with friendly governments or covertly in the case of countries with rogue regimes.

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And I didn't like it in most of these shows (one of the few exceptions is Mission Impossible which made it clear that what they're doing is totally illegal and if they get caught the government will drop them like a hot potato) because I'm not comfortable the america = world police idea.
It's not even necessary, the USA is a very big and diverse country, I doubt there are many stories that can't be set within the jusrisdiction of an american SHIELD.

That's unclear. The use of "Homeland" in their current acronym implies an affiliation with the US Department of Homeland Security, yet in The Avengers they seemed to answer to some sort of international council.

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The Homeland part is what made me assume they're an american organization, there's also a lack of non-american characters on the team, I would expect at least one token foreigner if they were international.

Fox sued Marvel over Mutant X saying they had exclusive rights to the X-Men and that the show was similar enough to X-Men that it violated that agreement, so Fox's X-Men rights at least must extend to live action television.

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That was before Marvel had the hordes of Disney lawyers to back them up.

That was before Marvel had the hordes of Disney lawyers to back them up.

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Fox has hordes of lawyers, too, and the X-Men rights deal was very favorable to Fox. Disney's juice isn't necessarily enough to prise those rights - either movie rights or live action TV rights - away. And Marvel's defense at the time wasn't that they had the right to make a live action X-Men TV show, but that Mutant X wasn't derived from the X-Men property.

It wasn't. It was a vaguely similar premise but without any of the Marvel universe and mythology behind it and, as I recall, it was also absolutely terrible. Use of "Mutant" seems to be what got them, and I'm pretty sure that play wouldn't have worked if those Fox lawyers were up against a worthy opponent.